The Great Prince - Rewritten
by Wavie
Summary: Bambi 2 told from the Great Prince's point of view. A rewrite of an old story. Includes scenes not in the movie.
1. Prologue

_This is a rewrite of an old story of mine, which can still be found on my profile. I loved this story so much and after a long hiatus I decided that I wanted to make it better, hence the rewrite._

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

It was winter. Nature had covered everything in a thick blanket of white snow, making the forest look pure and beutiful. No outsider could suspect how harsh it really was. The winter.

But The Great Prince of the Forest knew all about the cruelty of this season. The birds had flown away towards warmer places and most of the small woodland animals were asleep in their dens, blisfully unaware of the struggle for survival that his own kind faced; forced to peel bark off the trees to eat until there was nothing left but an entire forest filled with purely naked trees.

Yes, sometimes nature could be cruel. And it was cruelty that was on his mind as he sped towards the northern meadow as fast as his legs could carry him.

Man was in the forest again. He had come to take yet another helpless animal. He always did. He had for as long as the stag could remember. But why he did not know. Perhaps there was no reason other than that of simple cruelty. Either way it did not matter. It was his responsibility to protect the creatures of the forest against him. And someone was in danger. He had heard the sounds that he knew had come from Man's weapon.

He was almost there now. He could see the forest growing thinner as he was nearing the open field.

That was when he heard the noise. The noise that he dreaded the most.

Something had been hit.

Moments later he stepped out into the meadow. And that's where he saw it. A doe was lying in the snow.

He did not yet see any Man so he dared to move closer. He needed to see who the victim was. When he recognized the doe he felt as though his entire body was being crushed by a big bolder.

This wasn't just any doe in the herd lying lifeless in the snow. This was his doe. His mate. The mother of his son.

Oh Man was more than cruel. Man was heartless.

His beutiful mate was there, right in front of him with blood leaking out of her, colouring the snow in which she lay, dead. Her crimson eyes were lifeless, not seeing anything of the clear blue sky above her. Man had killed her. Man had taken his mate.

He heard noises not so far away and he knew that it was his cue to leave. There was nothing he could do for her now. He had no choice but to leave and allow Man to take her. He had to flee now if he didn't want to end like her and he couldn't die now.

He turned around and left in search of the fawn whose prints were visible in the snow. He had to find Bambi and make sure that he was safe.

Snow was starting to fall heavily now but it did not take long for The Great Prince to find what he was looking for. A fawn was walking around in the ticket, calling for his mother.

When Bambi caught sight of him he gasped in shock. He looked frightened.

"Your mother can't be with you anymore," The Great Prince said with a heavy heart.

He turned around and motioned for Bambi to follow him.

"Come, my son".

Bambi followed him in silence, walking with his head bowed low. The old stag thought he saw tears leaking from the fawn's eyes. He didn't say anything. He wouldn't know how to comfort him. He didn't even know how to comfort himself at the moment. The really short walk to his den seemed a lot longer now.

When they finally did reach his home he stopped outside, taking a deep breath and motioned for Bambi to go inside. The fawn seemed to be dragging his hooves through the snow as he walked into the den and laid down into the pile of rotten leaves.

The stag heard the sound of bashing wings.

It was the owl.

"Friend Owl," he greeted as the owl settled on the lower branch of a nearby tree.

"I'm sorry sir to bother you this late but I had to come," he said.

The Great Prince said nothing. No words could express his grief in this precise moment.

"Poor little fellow, too young to be without a mother," Friend Owl said, looking at Bambi.

The stag was still silent. Too young indeed. Oh, why did Man have to be so cruel!

"Well if there is anything I can do-"

Friend Owl seemed to have given up on conversation, preparing to fly off again.

"Wait," the stag said. "I could use your help".

He stepped closer to the Owl.

"Find a suitable doe to raise Bambi".

Friend Owl digested his request.

"Oh yes of course, but I don't know, there is so little food and the does can scarcely feed themselves".

The owl feel silent for a moment, thinking.

"But perhaps you could-"

"Me," The Great Prince exclaimed, surprised. Surely Friend Owl couldn't be serious.

"You know as well as I do that a Prince looks after the herd and the does care for the young".

"Yes," Friend Owl said, "but you are his father and circumstances being what they are-"

The Stag gazed up at at the sky as he digested what the owl had said. He had a good point. The does already had it difficult and it might not be a good idea to suddenly force the care of another fawn upon one when the winter was at its harshest. Perhaps it was best that Bambi remain in his care for the time being.

"Until spring," he said.

The owl chuckled in delight. "Oh wonderful, I mean who better to raise the Young Prince than The Great Prince of the Forest himself!"

The stag sighed. The fawn was in his care now. He laid down next to Bambi inside the den. Tomorrow was going to be challenging. So was pushing aside his feelings of grief so he could get some sleep.

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><p><em>Please review. It does make me write faster. I hope you liked it.<em>


	2. Chapter One

_I wanted to update as quick as I could. This chapters differs a lot from the other story. I realized it made more sense this way._

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

The Great Prince of the Forest woke up at dawn, well rested.

The worst part of the cold season was over, the weather had gotten less chilly and the forest had started to wake up again after a long winter sleep.

The first thing he did was go down to the creek to drink some water. It was nice to drink real water again. It was mere days ago that it had been frozen solid like every other water surface in the forest. Now with spring coming closer and the temperatures getting warmer he and the rest of the deer did not have to eat snow or ice to get hydrated.

He had some tweaks for breakfast. He had long since gotten used to what most animals might call 'less desirable food items'. For him there were more important things to worry about than what he put in his mouth. Food was food.

He looked up to the pink morning sky and gazed in amazement as a group of ten to twenty crimson-colored birds flew above him. This was one of the early signs of the coming of spring. This was good. The last couple of months had been very harsh. It was about time something good happened. Not to mention that the sooner the spring came the sooner his son, who despite having received clear instructions to rise early in the morning still was asleep in the den, could be moved to a new and better home.

It had been weeks since he had taken charge of Bambi, and though he had been inconsolable at first he now seemed to have realized, that he could not be with his mother again. He was like he would expect any fawn to be; he was playful, loud and still very dependent on the guidance of a parent. Apart from those aspects he was little trouble. He had been raised well.

The Great Prince quickly forced himself to think of something else. He did not want to cause himself unnecessary pain by dwelling on the past.

He went back to the den, hoping that his son had woken up from his sleep by now. He was disappointed to discover that the fawn was still curled inside the den, fast asleep.

The stag sighed. He could just wake him up himself of course but he wouldn't. If Bambi woke up late he would just have to deal with the consequences. He could not be the one to push his son out of the den every morning, no he would simply have to learn how to get up early the hard way. Whatever previous arrangements he had been used to would have to be put behind him.

The Great Prince decided that he would have to do his observing here for a while, until that lazy son of his woke up.

It didn't take long after that however, that the stag heard a sneeze coming from inside his den.

About time, he thought and turned to face the opening of his den just in time to see a shocked little fawn come running out of it.

Not watching out for where he was going he ran straight into the front legs of his father. The collision sent the young deer on his back into the snow and he gazed awkwardly up at the stag with his four slim legs pointing in every direction.

The stag cleared his throat, looking down on his son with a look of disapproval.

"G-good morning," Bambi stuttered as he rose from awkward position.

The Great Prince sighed.

"Bambi, a Prince awakens before the forest does. If you're late again I'll have no choice but to-" he was suddenly distracted by a strange sound.

"What was that?" he wondered.

"What was what?" his son asked, his voice shaking.

The sound repeated itself and he lowered his ears in embarrassment.

"Uhm, I guess it was my stomach," he said.

"Then you should eat," the stag said. That seemed to him to be the most obvious solution. But the fawn just looked at him, dumbstruck as if he had said something utterly ridiculous and then Bambi's gaze moved to quickly scan his snow-covered surroundings before it went back to the stag. That was when he realized what he had said.

He should be well into the routine now. Bambi had been staying with him for weeks. He knew that Bambi was still too young to find food on his own. He should know better, he couldn't afford to look stupid in front of his son.

"I suppose I should find you something to eat," he said, quickly scanning their surroundings for anything eatable.

After digging in the snow with his hoof he managed to find the remains of a bush.

"Here," he said, stepping back to allow the fawn access to his meal.

His excitement turned into disappointment when he saw it.

"Uhm, no thank you".

The Great Prince became slightly irritated. It was still winter. Food was hard to come by; Bambi couldn't afford to sort out the things he didn't like.

"Have you ever tried it," the stag asked.

"No," Bambi admitted.

"Then how do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?"

He sensed that Bambi knew he had lost and he reluctantly chewed on some twigs. When he swallowed his breakfast the stag was satisfied.

"Come along, we have to check on the other deer in the south forest".

"WOOHOO! WOHOO!"

The fawn stopped and fell silent the third time his name was called.

"A Prince does not woo hoo,"The Great Prince said.

Bambi looked at him oddly.

"He doesn't?"

"He most certainly does not," the stag said. "He displays control of all times. Maintain dignity. Walks with pride".

He made demonstrations as he spoke.

Bambi obeyed and did not say another word but no sooner had they walked two steps before he suddenly went sliding down the hill they were walking on with a surprised cry followed by a muttered "I'm okay," as he had fallen face down into the thick layer of snow.

The Great Prince sighed but said nothing else. It was like this every day. He was always delayed because of his son's clumsiness. Of course he knew that as Bambi still was a mere fawn his legs were not as strong as his own so it was only natural that he shouldn't be able to keep up with a fully grown buck like himself but still he found it extremely tiring and annoying. He was no do for crying out loud, he did not have a doe's patience to deal with a fawn.

As he expected Bambi screamed as soon as his hooves touched the icy cold water when they crossed the creek and he ran to the other shore, as fast as his legs could carry him then jumped around, complaining about the cold. And again he squeezed himself under the trunk of a big, fallen tree that was in the way of their daily path.

At last they reached their first stop - the meadow. It was completely covered in white snow like the rest of the forest and the contrast to the light brown color of the deers' fur made them a lot easier to spot than had this been mid-summer. They'd be a lot easier for Man to spot, should he choose to show up. But at this moment there seemed to be no danger.

"Don't you think it'd be better if we got a little closer?" his son asked him.

"The distance makes it easier to spot danger," he simply answered.

"Oh," said Bambi. "But it sure makes it harder to play with them".

He gave the fawn an odd look. Surely Bambi knew that there was no room for playtime on his agenda.

"Playing is a healthy part of a young deer's development," his son explained.

"Is that so?" he said in a non-caring-tone.

"Mother says so," the fawn said.

The stag sighed as his son began a tale about a past encounter on the meadow. Bambi it seemed had never fully understood what had happened to his mother. He still spoke of her as if she was still alive. As if she could come back any moment. He didn't understand what the mere mentioning of her did to him. Of course he had never tried to talk to him about it. Bambi was far too young to understand it. The Great Prince had done a good job at masking his true feeling anyway so it wasn't necessary. But this wasn't good for Bambi either.

"Bambi!" he said sternly and the fawn looked up at him in shock and stopped talking.

His expression softened.

"I think it's best to leave the past in the past," he said gently. "A Prince does not look back, only ahead".

"Oh," Bambi said, seeming disappointed. "Yes sir".

"Come, we still have a lot of ground to cover today, don't fall behind," the stag said.

It was only a short while later though that he discovered that the fawn was no longer trailing behind him. He had stopped to talk to the rabbit family about the groundhog.

So it was that time of year already it seemed. He sighed and cleared his throat. Bambi looked embarrassed and ran back to him quickly.

They continued walking until they came to a small mountain. As Bambi tried to climb it he kept sliding back down until the stag was about ten feet ahead of him and they were not even close to reaching the top. He realized that Bambi would not stand a chance at climbing all this way so taking him along would be pointless.

"Why don't you go with your friends to see the groundhog?" he decided. At least then Bambi wouldn't be alone and Friend Owl and a bunch of other adults would also be there if anything should happen. And he was sure that Bambi would prefer that than to go back to the den.

"But I want to stay with you," the fawn said.

It was always something that his son actually wanted to go with him on patrol but as it was at the moment it was not possible but he could not be as blunt as to tell his son that he would not make it. He may not have known much about parenting but he certainly knew better than to discourage his young one, especially when that young one would one day take over his duties, so instead he said, "I have to check on the deer in the south meadow, it's very far. Go with your friends to see the groundhog, I'll meet you there later".

"Okay," Bambi said, looking a little disappointed. "I'll meet you".

The Great Prince said nothing more and continued on his way.

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><p><em>The next update might not be as quick. I have a lot of stuff to do, I have to finish an original short story that is going to be part of an anthology and I have to study for finals. But please post a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.<em>


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